An Oriya film Lavanya Preeti was screened at Bharat Bhavan here on Wednesday. The film was screened under children film festival which marked its last day.

The 1993 was directed by A K Bir. The film stars Aditi Bir, Saumysri Misra, Tara Shankar Misra in lead roles. It is a traditional tale and follows the pattern of Rs film within a filmRs .

The film illustrates the tale of adolescent love between Gauri and Kedar that is misunderstood by the elders and leads to tragedy. The film won the Best Asian Film award at the Osaka International Film Festival and the Best Children’s Film award at the 41st National Film Awards in 1994. Besides, the film also won The Silver Plaque for Best Film at 8th International Film Festival for Children and Young People 1993, Best Child Artist award at 8th International Film Festival for Children and Young People 1993.

Apurba Kishore Bir, studied cinematography in FTII and began his career making ads, documentaries and short film. He was a key member of Richard Attenborough’s camera team for the multiple Oscar winning ‘Gandhi’. Bir has made many films for CFSI including ‘Lavanya Preeti’ that won the Best Asian Film at the Osaka International Film Festival and ‘Baaja’ that won the National Award for Best Children’s film in 2003.

He is a sensitive filmmaker who has often depicted children trapped in a world of adults obsessed with materialism and lack of harmony. Bir has won multiple national awards both for cinematography and direction.